I am not very tolerant of drug users. Don’t get me wrong, I did my share of illegal drugs as a teenager and probably your share too but some of the things I didn’t mess with were meth and heroin. I see a lot of methamphetamine users in my restaurant. I lot of them work for me and I just have no pity for them. Meth heads may be severely addicted but at some point in time they chose to do it. People that have children under their care and live that lifestyle should be shot in the head.

Having said that, I teared up when I read the story about Jayci Yaeger. Jayci is a ten-year-old Lincoln Nebraska girl who is dying of brain cancer. She cries herself to sleep every night because her piece of shit father is in prison in Yankton, South Dakota. The thing is, he is almost finish with his sentence and the warden has it in his power to allow Jason Yaeger to spend the girl’s last few months with her father. His wife Vonda has been pleading with the warden for a bit of compassion to grant her daughter’s dying wish.

Jason was convicted of meth charges almost five years ago and is scheduled to be released next year. As a matter of fact, he is due to be placed in a halfway house this August, which would allow for some time with his daughter, but according to the mother it will probably be too late.

According to the Federal Bureau of Prison’s web site furloughs can be allowed for a family crisis and that decision is left to the warden. Apparently the warden in Yankton doesn’t consider a dying ten year old girl to be a family crisis or an extraordinary circumstance. I hope Santa Claus has nothing but coal for that dude’s stocking this year.

Updated 3-21-08

Apparently the family has appealed for a 30-day supervised release and the warden has denied it.

The prison also sent out a press release yesterday:

Officials at the Federal Prison Camp are sensitive to the request from inmate Yaeger and his family to allow him to visit his daughter. In response to inmate Yaeger’s request, he has been escorted by prison staff on three separate occasions to allow him to be with his daughter during this difficult time. Two of these trips have occurred within the past month. We have also assisted inmate Yaeger in maintaining telephonic contact with his family and daughter.

The Bureau of Prisons routinely utilizes furloughs and escorted trips in response to family emergencies, whichever is deemed most appropriate based on a review of security and safety concerns for both the inmate involved and the community.

Bureau of Prisons officials have reviewed inmate Yaeger’s request for a compassionate release and have determined his situation does not meet the criteria set forth by the Bureau of Prisons Program … Inmate Yaeger’s request for extended placement in a Residential Re-entry Center is currently in litigation; therefore, we are unable to comment further on this request.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons does not have the authority to release or suspend a court imposed sentence. Our agency’s mission is to protect society by confining offenders in controlled environments of prisons and community-based facilities, which are safe, humane and appropriately secure.

One Comment to "A Dying Girl’s Wish"

I wrote about Jayci Yaeger last week. She’s the girl dying with brain cancer whose father is in prison for meth, and the only thing she wanted was to see her daddy before she died. She passed away shortly after…